Religious Ritual?

[Sirona]

It has always seemed to me that ritual is an attempt to wield some sort of power (or magic) that one cannot manage otherwise. Rituals can be as benign as trying to bring blessings upon a new child (baptism) or as malevolent as attempting to cause injury or death to another person (through such things as voodoo images and the like).

For that reason, ritual has always seemed like an admission that those performing the ritual are out of their depth, and looking for help. I think there are better means of seeking help at such times. Even the Yellow Pages probably offers hope than performing mindless ritual.

There are certainly rituals performed in a superstitious mindset, but I think it is an overgeneralization to call all rituals superstitious per se. If you perform a ritual, you create some sort of well-being, and by performing the same ritual later, you can "call up" and reinforce the same feeling of well-being. Prayer can be ritualized, too.

As for rituals, I perform arati, mostly with a lamp only, sometimes in the full Gaudiya Vaishnava style (although I lack a conchshell).

 

[Heyo]

If you were to implement your spiritual beliefs into religious rituals, how would you proceed?

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By preparing food the correct way:

 

[Salty Booger]

By preparing food the correct way:

Hmm.... I just had dinner, but that still looks good.

 

[PruePhillip]

If you were to implement your spiritual beliefs into religious rituals, how would you proceed?

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Jesus gave little in the way of ritual. There was the gathering, a talk, prayer, some hymns
and the symbols - bread and wine.
That's all. Done without a church building because Jesus made it clear that 'God does not
dwell in temples made with hands.'
Whatever else you see in a religious ritual is just man-made.

 

[Aupmanyav]

No rituals (like Salix). I am a free bird, except for the binding of Dharma (Fulfill your duties and engage in righteous action).

 

[Sirona]

Jesus gave little in the way of ritual. There was the gathering, a talk, prayer, some hymns
and the symbols - bread and wine.
That's all. Done without a church building because Jesus made it clear that 'God does not
dwell in temples made with hands.'
Whatever else you see in a religious ritual is just man-made.

So celebrating the Eucharist and taking bread and wine are not religious rituals?

 

[PruePhillip]

So celebrating the Eucharist and taking bread and wine are not religious rituals?

Certainly they are. I am not saying there were NO rituals, only minimal.

 

[Clara Tea]

I have to agree with Thief (who wrote in this forum): "it is written....There are no works of hand that justify a soul before God and heaven"

I think of Moses climbing the mountain to talk to God, while his people melted down their valuables into a golden calf, and worshiped that. God (and Moses) was very displeased, because the idol was worshiped alongside God, and God should be the only one worshiped.

One mustn't worship mammon (money) over God. There is only one object or being to be worshiped, and that is God.

We have to be careful not to make idols of worship (symbol of Jesus nailed to a cross, or piece of the cross that he was nailed to, or piece of the temple of Solomon, etc).

I wonder if objects are the only things that we must not worship? Maybe we get caught up in rituals, and somehow forget the worship of God?

We must also rein in our fear, because that can drown out God's words. For example, God said "thou shalt not kill." That doesn't mean that if you are scared, it is okay to kill. When the al Qaeda made a sneak attack on the US, we were supposed to let God handle it, rather than launch attacks at the al Qaeda or Iraq (which had nothing to do with the al Qaeda) or the Taliban (who, as US allies in the war on terrorism, had captured bin Laden and offered to turn him over for trial under the condition that we could prove his involvement in terrorism).

 

[WalterTrull]

I wouldn't.

 

[metis]

If you were to implement your spiritual beliefs into religious rituals, how would you proceed?

Through contemplative meditation.

 

[Brickjectivity]

If you were to implement your spiritual beliefs into religious rituals, how would you proceed?

What I might do is have a ritual representing the death of the individual, symbolizing their acceptance of the cessation of self for the good of all. I think I would call this 'Baptism' or maybe 'Baptizm'.

Then what I might do is have a ritual symbolizing the unity of everyone. We'd share a meal or something like that. This meal would involve forgiving wrongs and overlooking differences. Yes. I might call this ritual Renewal or perhaps Communion or Eucharist or something like that...whatever was catchy.

 

[Nakosis]

If you were to implement your spiritual beliefs into religious rituals, how would you proceed?

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Probably Druidic rituals. They tend to open one's mind to nature.
Nature spirits if you believe, are pretty visceral.

 

[Rye_P]

If you were to implement your spiritual beliefs into religious rituals, how would you proceed?

Consider things before you act, for our actions is the real rituals of our beliefs.

I don't find an excessive ceremony are considered as religious rituals, might be unpopular pov tho.

 

[PearlSeeker]

If you were to implement your spiritual beliefs into religious rituals, how would you proceed?

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As a lifetime Christian I practice various rituals at various occasions, collective (mass, family prayer, service... ) and alone (prayer, meditation, study, fasting) ...

Over the years I created a morning ritual because it's the most quiet time in my day and it starts the day.

I would start with little and what feels most comfortable and gradually add things.